The German-Indian collaboration Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell was shown in front of local and international art enthusiasts in the Main Hall of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy on February 20.
The performance was a collaboration between the two choreographers Ben J Riepe from Düsseldorf, Germany and Navtej S Johar from New Delhi, India. With an international cast of dancers, performers and musicians, both choreographers wanted to push the boundaries of live performance. Sound, image, feeling and motion are equal parts of the performance.
The interactive live art performance was a stage piece with six performers, dancers, a live musician and a singer. The performance dealt with anxiety and cultural codes -- representing sexuality on the stage. The dance piece was an interwoven collage performance, integrating live art and dance around the themes of the male body, belonging, sexual desires and the borders of expression.
The choreographers, Ben J Riepe and Navtej S Johar bonded the dance forms of India and Germany together to find a very sensitive way to express feelings of loneliness, longing, desire, intimacy and vulnerability. They chose a path that represents the body while concentrating on the individuality of the performers. The work is characterised by a strong, provocative and poetic sense of drama and irony, interviewing beauty with critical statements. The Choreography became more than a beautiful arrangement of moving bodies on stage.
The ensemble surrounding the Düsseldorf-based choreographer Ben J Riepe was founded in 2004. Since then, it has created various stage choreographies, performances, installations, film- and video work, which have been successfully shown internationally. Most recently, the company toured in Poland, India, Bangladesh, the Netherlands and France and received numerous prizes.
Navtej Singh Johar is one of India’s leading dancers and choreographers. Trained in Bharatanatyam at the Kalakshetra, Chennai, he also studied at the Department of Performance Studies, at New York University. His dance work traverses between the traditional and the contemporary and is closely informed by the socio-political history of Indian dance. As an urban activist, his focus is upon placing the “body” at the centre of urban designing. Widely travelled, he has performed, lectured and conducted workshops at prestigious venues all over the world.
The show, which was limited to adults only, was a production by Ben J Riepe Kompanie, Navtej S Johar and Studio Abhyas. It was a part of the “Germany and India 2011-2012: Infinite Opportunities,” project.